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Quess East Bengal football club narrowly edged past a spirited Indian Arrows side by a 1-0 margin to leapfrog Mohun Bagan and NEROCA FC and move up to the fourth spot in the I-League standings with 22 points from 12 matches. Spanish winger Jaime Santos Colado converted in the 48th minute after Jobby Justin produced an assist inside the box, the former’s shot managed to get past the Arrows’ defender who made a sliding tackle to shut him down.
With the ‘Kolkata Derby’ around the corner, East Bengal will be more than happy to grab all the three points on offer before the build-up to the crucial tie. Although it is hard to say whether the Kolkata giants can still get a shot at the championship, this win takes them to a very comfortable position in the league.
Let us have a look at the 3 reasons why East Bengal FC won against Indian Arrows.
#3 Indian Arrows' lack of intent in the final third
The Indian colts played on par with East Bengal in the first half, which was laudable, but they lost the grip in the second half. Bringing on Rahim Ali in the latter stages may have increased the pace a bit but it did not save the day for Floyd Pinto’s boys.
The coach although feels that the boys played well to keep their much-fancied opponents “on their toes” for the entire 90 minutes. “Nothing went wrong in the second half. Boys played their hearts out. When you make mistakes you will be punished. We were playing against a quality side and we kept them on their toes for 90 minutes. Great achievement for the team,” said Pinto following the match.
One point to be noted is that the players do not have an added pressure on their shoulders since they are a development side and won’t get relegated at the end of the season. Coach Floyd Pinto was pleased overall with the experience playing against such a big team. Regarding the matter, he said, “Great experience for us in today's game. We are a development side. This is a good experience for the team. The players, of course, are disappointed but I am happy with their overall game.”
#2 Borja Gomez Perez's heroics
The Spanish stopper has been phenomenal since his debut for the red and gold brigade. He has been rock solid in the defence, hardly giving any space for his opponents to penetrate through. The former La Liga star is practically untouchable in aerial balls, makes good use of his height to keep the attackers at bay.
His services during the previous ‘Kolkata Derby’ was invaluable to the team, the score could have easily changed if not Borja guarded the goal as he did during the match. “For me, it is very important that we got a victory, we got the three points. We did not concede a goal,” said Borja following the win. Borja was the main obstacle for the young colts on Friday evening at the Salt Lake Stadium
Sharing his views about the next fixture against East Bengal, he said, “For next match, I think that it will be a very good match. The people in India look at the match, it is an unbelievable match. Mohun Bagan is a strong team. My team is also strong, so no problem.”
#1 Alejandro Menendez's tactical change at half time
The first half was evenly shared by both the teams in terms of possession. Kassim Aidara’s shot in the 35th minute was denied by the woodwork, while Jaime Colado also got an opportunity to score but he failed to make use of it. The hosts were dominant from the beginning of the second period and they got the result within the first five minutes itself.
East Bengal’s coach Alejandro Menendez revealed that he enforced a change in tactics in the second half which was crucial for the outcome of the game. “I told my boys in the second half to increase the pace and play more in the attacking third. Our pace was not good in the first half. Also, the opponent did well and made it difficult for us,” said the coach.
East Bengal’s next match will be against Mohun Bagan on January 27th at the same venue. A win is always a morale booster ahead of the ‘Kolkata Derby’. The understanding between the wingers and the forward was pretty good which is a positive sign for the side, although one cannot keep them ahead on papers in such a high voltage match!
